


Hidden

by Cora_knight_of_breath



Series: Hidden and Found [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-08
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-02-03 22:16:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1758345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cora_knight_of_breath/pseuds/Cora_knight_of_breath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A red-eyed troll ends up searching for sanctuary in a house during a time when he is hunted. Will the human he meets save him or ultimately lead to his death as he hides?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blue

Heart pounding, breath labored.

Barks are heard in the distance, shouts following them.

“Get him!”

“Don’t let it get away!”

“Faster!”

Clothes get torn and skin gets cut as branches pull, trying to hold him back.

Just a little farther.

He makes it to a white house, a tire swing out front. He glides into an open window on the first floor, landing in a kitchen that smells like cake. He’s dizzy, disoriented from hitting the hard tile floor. His shoulder hurts from using it to cushion the fall. He stands up, red dripping as he fumbles through the strange house. He’ll be kicked out the moment he’s discovered, so he has to hide.

He’s a freak and being caught means death.

He stumbled up the stairs, listening weakly for sounds of someone being present. He looks around at the various pictures, his eyes seeing but his brain not quite registering. Soon he’s in a room, crawling under a twin-sized bed and shutting his eyes tight. He will be caught if he stays too long. He’ll die from starvation if he isn’t caught.

A whimper slides from his throat as he realizes he’s doomed. He’s going to die. There is no escaping the cruel fate that is spreading out in front of him.

If only he had been more careful.

If only he had been more reserved.

If only he had been more obedient.

If only…

* * *

 

“I’m home!”

His red eyes flash open as he hears shouts. He quickly moves further under the bed, pressing himself close to the wall. He clutches at his torn black sweater, pulling it over his mouth to muffle any breathing. He can feel death come closer with each step up the stairs. They’re moving fast, running. He hears the door of the room fly open and something hard hit the ground. The bed squeaks and the mattress bounces as it is jumped onto. He whimpers, trying to fight back pink tears. He doesn’t want to die. Death is right above him, laying on the bed and doing things that he cannot picture.

Death shifts, its pale pink-ish hand moving and searching for something under the bed. He pushes closer to the wall, trying to hold back any noises. If he presses against the wall, it can’t touch him, right?

The hand goes up and a pair of white sneakers hit the ground, followed by a pink-ish boy. His head pokes under the bed, blue eyes eyeing him. Only three words pass from his lips in a voice that sounds young and curious. “Who are you?”

He is shaking violently now, unable to speak as the boy stares at him. He can’t respond, just stare. The boy seems to get the hint and smiles, big front-teeth leading a large toothy grin.

“I’m John,” the boy says. “You’re a troll, right? Why are you in my room? Did something happen?” The boy - John - holds out a hand and, against his better judgement, he takes it and allows himself to be pulled out from under the bed. “Do you have a name?”

He hesitates. “Karkat.” His red eyes stare into blue ones. He’s still shaking. Death is a soft-looking boy with big blue eyes and large teeth. This has to be someone’s idea of a cruel joke.

“You’re hurt,” John notes. “What happened?”

Karkat stays silent, so John grabs a first-aid kit from his night stand. Inside are a few inhalers, but there are also bandages and disinfectant. He starts working on Karkat’s cuts, not even asking as he sticks Ghost Buster stickers all over them. He grins wide when he’s done.

“There!” He laughs a bit and puts up the first aid kit. “So why are you under my bed?”

Karkat stares at him. “I’m on the run.”

“What happened? Did your lusus reject you are something?” He bites his lip a bit. “Is that even possible? I don’t understand you all completely. You’re still kinda a new thing to me and my dad doesn’t tell me anything.”

“I have red blood and they found out.”

“So? I have red blood.”

“Trolls don’t. Not unless it’s rust red. Mine’s...mine’s candy red.”

“So what are you gonna do now? I mean, you can’t go outside, right? Are you gonna be able to go home?”

Karkat shakes his head. “No. I have to stay hidden. I came in here hoping to rest until nightfall.”

John starts biting his lip a bit. His blue eyes cross a bit behind their square frames. He seems to be thinking hard. Finally, he speaks up. “You can stay here. If we’re careful my dad won’t find out.”

“You can’t do that! You’ll get in trouble!”

John shakes his head. “No one will know. It’ll be our secret.” He holds up his pinky. “Promise.”

Karkat stares at the raised finger. It seems odd to him. It takes John guiding Karkat’s pinky to his for Karkat to understand what to do. Humans are weird, he knows that. This is just another factor in how strange they are.

“So, Karkat,” John says, “how good are you at math?”

Karkat shrugs. “I never studied it,” he admits. “My education was self taught since trolls don’t attend school and my lusus isn’t exactly understandable.”

“Guess you’ll get to learn then!” John exclaims as he grabs a binder from his backpack. “I can teach you stuff! Then you can teach me stuff about trolls in return!” He grins and hops onto his bed, patting the spot next to him for Karkat. “My dad doesn’t get home until later, so we can start now.”

Hesitant, still certain this boy may be Death in disguise, Karkat stares at him. John doesn’t move, waiting patiently for Karkat to climb up to the spot he pat. After a few minutes, Karkat climbs onto the bed, sitting next to him. John opens his binder up to a blank page and starts his lesson on basic math.


	2. Safe

John leaves Karkat in his room in the morning.

“My dad won’t be home until later,” he explains. Before leaving, as an afterthought, he says, “I won’t be home until later today. I’m doing something  with a friend.”

“Okay.” The words are quiet, meek, and make clear Karkat’s fear of the unknown house. As long as he stays in the room, he should be safe. He still has his fears, though.

As he is left alone, red eyes scan the room. Everything seems so white. There are drawings on some of the walls, but they have been washed clean by someone. Only their shadows remain as small marks on movie posters and in corners.

Karkat slowly slides himself off of the bed and onto the floor. He doesn’t  trust that John’s dad will stay out of his room and stay home all day. The house smelled of cakes when Karkat came in through the window and someone had to be baking them.

He won’t let himself drop his guard with the threat of someone being in the house present. Letting his guard down is what got him in this situation, depending on a human boy with deep blue eyes.

For all he knows, the boy will turn him in. No doubt a reward will be set out. Although trolls try to avoid involving their searches with human settlements, in time the wanted posters will pop up around the neighborhood.

_Dangerous._

_Willing to kill._

_Three dead already._

_Reward available._

_Report to Her Imperial Condescension._

The threat is most definitely real. As long as he is in danger of joining the collection of pets, he must keep himself hidden. Being found means a leash and nudity and becoming a freak forced to beg for its next meal.

He won’t accept that.

Not again.

* * *

 

_When Karkat was growing up, he had immediately been discovered as a mutant. The Jade bloods were all too willing to expose him. He was raised in the palace among anyone else deemed a freak. He was forced to beg the masters for his next meal._

_One day, a little girl  being raised to become the next ruler found Karkat. She was older than him, but she looked younger._

_You’re a pet?_

I’m going to be.

_But you’re so young!_

That doesn’t matter to them.

_Do you want to be free?_

Yes.

_I’ll help._

_The girl led him out, freeing him from the desires of royals. She gave him nothing but a boat, but he found a lusus that was willing to take him._

_He was safe, he thought._

* * *

 

Really, safety is an illusion. Karkat learned that the hard way.

By falling into the illusion, Karkat was forced out of his home.

He was forced into the house he is now hiding in, cowering close to the bed in case someone comes close.

He cannot be caught.

He knows he can’t.

Being caught is the last thing he wants.

If he isn’t killed, he’ll become a pet again.

This time, though, they’ll beat him into submission. **  
**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops. Still no sex in this one. I'm sorry! But, y'know, at this state John has Dave so you'll have to be patient.


	3. Family and Boyfriends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat learns about family members and John's boyfriend

Karkat’s idea of family is clearly different from John’s. By being raised as a troll by a lusus, he has no concept of things like siblings, cousins, dual parents, grandparents, and even the idea of parents as a whole.

As such, John’s choice to read to Karkat is clearly not his best. Often Karkat must interrupt, asking a question about the family and getting reminders on the relation. John has made him a diagram for remembering, but asking Karkat to make one as well for his family ended very abruptly. The troll clearly had no intention of exposing details of his life.

“Karkat, I know you don’t want to trust me,” John says quietly, “but I really won’t hurt you.” He taked the troll’s hand gently in his hand, trying to ignore Karkat going rigid. “I’ve done my best to help you, to keep you fed, and even to teach you. What can I do to make you trust me?”

Karkat is genuinely shocked. Crystalline tears form in the boy’s blue eyes. Again it’s there. Blue. More importantly, though, there are tears of a type which Karkat has never seen. His own are pink, reflective of his blood color.

He reaches a gentle hand out, cautiously wiping at the tears. “Don’t...cry…”

John gives a gentle smile, though his eyes are sad. “Sorry to make you worry. I just...I don’t want you to think you’re alone. You’re not. I’m here. And I always will be.”

Karkat slowly traces his hand down, stopping as he reaches a bruise on John’s neck. It’s barely hidden by his sweater. “But...you come with bruises.”

John laughs lightly. “These aren’t bad ones. They’re from my boyfriend,” he explains. “He’s very possessive sometimes. I think he’s scared I’ll leave him alone.”

“Boyfriend?” Karkat looks confused and John remembers that trolls are polyamorous.

“It’s like a...it’s someone you love. Like a matesprit, I think it’s called.” He smiles a bit. “You kiss them and they’re the only person you want. Some people have boyfriends, some have girlfriends. But most people usually have just one. And we don’t have kismesises.” He probably butchered the troll word, but he seems confident in it and Karkat doesn’t complain. “Do you get it?”

“Why does he leave bruises if it’s matesprit?”

John feels his cheeks heat up. “It’s a love bite, basically. Well, it’s called a hickey. It causes pleasure if you suck the right areas.” He plays with the hem of his shirt. “My neck is really sensitive, and since it’s winter Dave always leaves marks there.”

“Dave…” Karkat’s voice trails off. He seems lost in thought. He’s heard of John talk about a friend and use “love” when referring to him, but he’s never actually used the name around Karkat. He’s probably thinking into it too much, but he holds a desire to return John’s trust. A name for a name.

“Her name is Feferi,” Karkat suddenly says. “She saved me. Freed me.”

“Freed you?” John looks at him with concern. “From what?”

Karkat hesitates, feeling the memories well up inside him. “I was going to be a pet. Highbloods would be able to do as they wanted was I finished my training. I would be tossed around between them, sometimes. An indigo would have his fill, then a violet, and then the Condescension would take her time whenever she wished. I was terrified of it, but my blood meant I had no choice.”

John gently took Karkat’s hand. “Your blood isn’t any different from mine. You’re normal to me. And I’ll always protect you. I promise.” He gently kisses Karkat’s cheek, watching the dark red blush form. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those following Found and this one, this one occurs before Chapter 3 in Found. After this, they'll alternate in which happens first. Or they'll tell the same event from differing views. One from Karkat, one from Dave.  
> Also, be prepared for the official love triangle to start up, yo!


End file.
